King of the World #5: Isabella

I think you should definitely grab Monarchy with the Oracle -- this means you can build up a military and simultaneously get happiness in your cities -- with the oodles of health resources you've got, you should be able to get most of the cities up into the mid teens population-wise, which will make for huge trade routes and a very solid economy. You'll be massively ahead in terms of production, too. Block England from Scandinavia, and you'll be able to crush Lizzy at your leisure, once you have seige weapons. Wait until maces to take on JC's Praets.

EDIT: I also think you need significantly more workers -- Europe has many fantastic tiles that should not go unimproved.

This game is not turning out how I'd anticipated. It's a blast, thoguh.

I began by doing a little bit of shuffling to reflect the advice I'd been getting:



First, I changed Paris' build to a Warrior and pumped up the research rate. This would allow us to use the Oracle for sweet, sweet Metal Casting. This, in turn, would allow us to build the Colossus in Paris.

Secondly, I found out that, indeed, London is defended by a lone Warrior and a single boat. So, as you can see, I took Gooblah's advice and loaded two Chariots onto a Galley!

In 775 B.C., the Oracle completed, and the gods (... er, saints?) taught us advanced metalworking techniques and demanded we use them to fashion a massive icon in their names.



We also decided that Elizabeth was worth more to us dead than alive:



London fell quickly:



And turned out to be England's only stronghold:



We burned it to the ground, later founding Bristol on the nearby Stone.

Our reinforcements, which did not end up being necessary did a bit of exploration in Ireland:



And nabbed a bit of gold. Never the best result, but certainly not the worst, either.

Around this time, Mansa Musa finished researching Alphabet, which predictably set off a continent-wide golden age of technology sharing. We ended up with Alphabet and Hunting for Metal Casting and Polytheism.

Of course, being able to trade techs isn't all chocolate and roses:



I wasn't going to turn away someone as pretty (and dangerous) as Catherine.

Saladin, however....



Neither pretty nor especially scary. Suck it, heathen.

In 440 B.C., I founded my first grossly out of place city:



I know, I know. Stockholm is way south of where I put it. But there's no real-world major city analog. Which is unfortunate, since it's a great spot! Sweden could've had a real powerhouse city there.

In 410, Code of Laws completed, giving us a fascinating bonus:



A second holy city? In Berlin??? Shouldn't it have founded in a religionless city? Or at least away from a current shrine? Suddenly, with another Great Prophet on the way in Paris, Berlin is looking like a powerhouse gold city.

We also learned that our military is not quite as inept as I'd feared:



Of course, Julie's ahead of us, but he's our Christian brother. Everyone else lives in fear of Spanish justice!

With London and its Lighthouse razed, the English Channel became distressingly empty. Thankfully, the people of Paris were on hand to clutter it back up:



And in 305 B.C., things started getting complicated:



We earned our Great Prophet to make Berlin a double-shrine city, but Catherine was suddenly in trouble! I decided to keep out of things for now. Perhaps I would declare myself if people came asking for help.

Nobody came, though. Which was a good thing, because in 230 B.C., things got even more complicated:



Catherine asked me to close my borders to the vile Egyptians. Not a problem. After last game, I'm perfectly content hating Hattie. More importantly, as you can see in the lower right corner, Julius Caesar had betrayed me!

He sent three Praetorians and a Spearman to ruin my day. Thankfully, a whipped Axeman and some garrison shuffling fended him off with (miracle of miracles) not a single casualty. So, in 215 B.C., I decided to call it a round.

Here's the situation on the Roman border:



I think I could at least take Antium, but is it worth it? I'm thinking I could just switch my research to Feudalism and Vassalize Rome.

I mean, looking at the Power Chart:



We can see that a lot of Rome's power was founded on that mini stack he sent our way. We are on fairly good terms, and with Alexander to his west and us to his north, west, and south, he's kind of boxed in. He may be willing to kneel.

Here's a look at the world:





We can now settle the British Isles at our leisure. Maybe Edinburgh on the Iron and a single city in Ireland.

The Domestic Advisor:



I know, I know. Why is Stockholm building a Trireme? Because I'm an idiot and pushed the wrong button, and now I may as well finish it. Not that we can't use a shark of the seas, anyway.

And the Foreign Policy situation:





So things are looking up. The only real question is what to do with Rome. Conduct a proper war? Shoot for Feudalism and make a push for Vassalization? Or just let things peter out and declare peace when we can?

Also, is my English Plan sound? I know I said we could settle st our leisure, but we can't wait too long.

Any other thoughts?

I will not say " I told you about Rome"

I would take Rome. No Rome , no roman Iron , no praetorians and then let Rome to rotten. Not useful as vassal ( at it will only get worse ) and not use as enemy

And about Scotland... I would settle on the Sheep and make Moai there. It has a huge prod potential.

Scottish city 1E of the sheep, and Dublin south of the Irish sheep to grab the remaining fish.

Antium is only interesting if you plan to take Greece and Rome too, or it'll die from cultural pressure. You might as well make a small stack of catapults and take Rome first, at least that city has a ton of resources.

This game could be a domination win

Long time lurker, first time poster here

I'd say settle Dublin 1S of the sheep and Edinburgh 1SW of the fur.

And concerning rome.. Dont vassalize, Rome is a great HE city imo. Attack with axes fast before they can hook up iron. If they haven't already?

Oh, and maybe attach a save aswell so we can take a closer look

Edinburgh 1SW of the fur.

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That misses the deer

Attack with axes fast before they can hook up iron. If they haven't already?

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He sent three Praetorians and a Spearman to ruin my day.

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whops, I didn't see that

i meant 1SE of the fur. sorry

Hiya, Refresco. Lemme be the first to welcome you. Settling in that blank spot's a great idea; I hate "wasting" resources by settling on top of them. And Ireland can, indeed, grab that extra fish!

Here's the save:

England plays a weak OCC quiet often on this map in the BCs,
but I'm surprised that you could wait until 700BC catching her with her skirt down, that's really late, even for her.

Rome must go, but currently they are at their strongest.
A war with only axes will be costly, so I would wait for better units.
I would take weak Egypt first, they should have already cottaged up 2 cities on the nile and the diplo-situation fits, Izzy wants her first holy crusade.

Don't forget that with the great lighthouse, offshore cities in England and Irland will boost your trade income considerably.

refresco said:

whops, I didn't see that

i meant 1SE of the fur. sorry

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Yeah, definitely don't found on the Iron, wasting that tile's great potential as well as leading to unnecessary overlap with Bristol. 1 E of the sheep.

1E east of the Sheep, get the Maori up and running and BAM! You found yourself a production powerhouse. As another poster said, Ireland can grab the fish.

About Rome, you can do one of two things. One, eradicate Rome right now. Two, if you cannot do that right now, force a peace-treaty, build up an army and do it in a couple of turns. With most of Europe under your control, you can start looking east to the Red Menace and pacify her once and for all.

Also try to spread your religions to all your cities when you can. Next to the obvious effect it will have on your economy once those shrines are up and running, it will also increase your power when the AP gets build and the culture will help a lot.

ps - I played a game as the Greek on this map and ugh! It seems Isa has a way easier time

I totally agree regarding the placements being mentioned. East of the sheep creates an interesting Maoi city. If you are looking further down the road, it could be a nice spot for a National Park city as well.... Get those spots up and running. With the GLH and Colossus just about any coastal city pays for itself from the get-go. Get some courthouses and the like and things will flow.

I like the idea of taking Rome as it always is a good production city. Plus, it just makes movement easier given where your cities are placed, and it won't take an Eon to wait for JC to get out there and improve the two islands. If you decide to take Antium I'd say either trash it or even gift it elsewhere. Be funny to gift it to someone far away and use it for spy stealing, but that's kind of 'iffy'. My thought would be to take Rome and see if JC will give you HBR for peace and leave Antium to its own iron-less devices.

As far as taking Rome, I think some shock axes and chariots can get in and pillage the iron, but I'd love to have catapults to bring along quickly after. Looks like you're 6 turns from construction, so that will help.

Belisar said:

Rome must go, but currently they are at their strongest.
A war with only axes will be costly, so I would wait for better units.
I would take weak Egypt first, they should have already cottaged up 2 cities on the nile and the diplo-situation fits, Izzy wants her first holy crusade.

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Agree.. Rome have a advantage now.. but if we/Neal wait untill maceman then its a whole other story

Concerning egypt, conquering them would do wonders for your economy as soon as you get courthouses and cottages down there.

My suggestions:

1. Attack egypt, make sure you bring spears aswell.
2. Rome with macemen, while your at it. just pay a quick visit to Alexander and capture athens. It shouldn't be hard with macemen.
3. (This can switch order with rome/greece if you have got time the time) Mali


Then you should have almost all Africa for yourself (except maybe a few cities by saladin) and all of europe.

How many cities does rome have? If it only has those 2 then yea go ahead, but be careful. Praets are really a pain...

How about 2 shock axes in top of the Rome's iron via galley?

Land two axes on the iron. Pillage. Fortify the units while you gather an army. Trash antium. Wait for axes. Just watch out for Hatte/Alex continuing the backstabbing.

I would suggest gettign rid of Rome, then Greece, then Egypt.

Random thought - how about trying for a cultural victory? You're in a pretty dominant position, so you have a bit of leeway to try whatever you like even if you're not used to it (I have no idea if you're used to cultural victories - they certainly require a different style of play). You got conquest last time - very good game btw - and to be honest, while this game is interesting now, it'll turn predictable once you've killed another civ or two.

Go on... Paris has wonders and Berlin has two religions...

EDIT - whoops, double post...

Oh well, may as well add something new. Perhaps you should take out Rome, then decide - he's only going to be a pain, anyway.

I don't think i would like a cultural vic for 2 reasons. 1) its pretty freaking boring.... and 2) hes surrounded in BSers. I say take out rome, then alex, then try to become friends with cathy and sign a def pact ( or just kill her either way)